Senior Adviser to Chinese President Defends Economy

Fang Xinghai, Director-General of the Office for Financial Services of Shanghai Municipal Government, addresses an interactive session titled ''Financial Reform in China'' during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2012 in Tianjin, north China, Sept. 12, 2012.

Zuma Press

For all the gloom hanging over China, a senior adviser to Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a rare defense of the country’s economy Wednesday, saying Beijing has strong leadership to continue its effort to remake the country’s growth model while pledging not to launch massive stimulus to revive growth. As WSJ's Lingling Wei reports:

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here, Fang Xinghai, a senior official in Mr. Xi’s economic-advisory team, urged global investors and businesses to focus more on China’s progress with putting the economy on a longer-term, sounder footing and less on short-term growth rate.

“The transition of China’s economy from investment-led to consumption-led is taking place,” said Mr. Fang, a director-general in the Office of the Central Leading Group on Economic and Financial Affairs, which acts like the White House’s National Economic Council. “China will continue the transition path in 2016 and beyond.”